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Napster-type system blocks spam
Users band together to block junk e-mail 07/18/2002
The same technique that made Napster the bane of record companies may
prove a potent weapon against unsolicited e-mail, unaffectionately known
as spam.
A California start-up named Cloudmark is causing all sorts of buzz with
its ability to allow connected users to vote on what is spam, then
immediately update spam-blocking filters across a peer-to-peer network,
much like that once used by Napster music file-swappers. You could call
it Spamster, but Cloudmark (
www.cloudmark.com), which introduced this intriguing product late last
month, has dubbed it SpamNet.
Some experts call the software a huge advance in the battle against
unwanted e-mail pitches, which have increased 500 percent in the last
year by some estimates. Others have their doubts that the free fledgling
service can keep pace with the ever-changing pitches for X-rated
pictures, Viagra substitutes and breast-enlarging ointments.
Promising weapon
But initial testing of SpamNet is showing that users can reduce their
daily spam influx 75 percent or more, developers say.
"It certainly adds to the arsenal of tools available to people fed up
with spam," says Ray Everett-Church, a beta tester and founder of the
nonprofit Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email. "It's
important because it adds instantaneous feedback from the network of
users to identify spam and to turn notices of new spam into filters very
quickly."
The SpamNet program – led in part by Napster co-founder Jordan Ritter –
goes one step beyond current software spam filters, which largely rely
on individuals to create their own criteria for filtering spam into a
trash can or spam list.
By connecting users to a peer-to-peer network, a simple software plug-in
for Microsoft Outlook permits the group to decide what e-mail should be
shunted aside before it arrives at in-boxes. Just as Napster allowed
users to share music from their hard drives, SpamNet lets them share
decisions on spam.
"This is the right way to solve the problem," says Karl Jacob, Cloudmark
CEO. "You're enabling consumers to help themselves. And we're finding
people are so, so happy to take a little time out of their day to join
together and stop spammers."
The actual operation is quite simple. A free download, available
initially for Outlook 2000, 2002 and XP, sets up a spam folder and
installs "block" and "unblock" buttons. The program automatically checks
mail against the SpamNet database of known spam messages. The bad stuff
goes in a spam folder.
If an offensive piece of digital mail gets through, the user highlights
it, then clicks the block button. If enough users brand the same piece
of mail as spam, SpamNet will stop it from reaching everyone's primary
mailbox, sending it instead to their spam folders.
"All we're asking people to do is hit the block button instead of the
delete key," Mr. Jacob says.
Should the program stop a legitimate piece of e-mail, users can find it
in their spam box, highlight it and click unblock, automatically moving
the message – and future similar e-mail – to the in-box. If enough users
do the same, those messages will flow again to all networked in-boxes.
Technical details
To make sure spammers can't manipulate the SpamNet system, Cloudmark has
developed a "truth evaluation system." The system is weighted toward
"trusted" users who, time after time, block spam that most other users
are also blocking. By giving priority to those users, the system keeps
spammers from invading and acting to unblock mail.
"Spam is accelerating, and traditional anti-spam solutions are running
out of steam," says Kevin Werbach, technology analyst at venture capital
firm EDventure Holdings. "It's time for disruptive technologies to
attack this problem. SpamNet's distributed approach is just the kind of
shake-up we need."
Experts say the Cloudmark concept works around hurdles faced by other
commercial e-mail filtering efforts. None are perfect, and the fear of
losing important correspondence is often well-founded.
Currently, e-mail is filtered at large Internet service providers using
criteria that often must be manually updated. Cloudmark's system appears
to automate and turbo-charge that process, experts say.
Other spam filters often require users to sign up for Web-based mail
accounts that serve as spam traps. But that process still requires
people to regularly sift through the trapped messages via their
Web-based accounts to make sure nothing important is accidently flagged.
Some filtering systems, for example, regularly capture legitimate mass
mailings sent out by discussion lists.
With SpamNet, all mail is downloaded as usual to the user's hard drive,
where the trapped spam can be checked immediately. E-mail comes into the
user's machine and never leaves. There's no need to check any online
site.
The effectiveness of SpamNet's collective filtering system should
increase as more people join, its developers say.
"It is indeed an important addition to have a network of thousands –
maybe someday millions – of people all reporting spam," Mr.
Everett-Church says.
The beta version of SpamNet is available for free from the Cloudmark.com
Web site. The company says it will soon release versions for Microsoft
Outlook Express, then gradually add plug-ins for other popular mail
programs, including Eudora.
Commercial uses
For now, the program has difficulty operating behind some corporate
firewalls. It also doesn't work with America Online or Web-based mail
such as Hotmail – only POP3 accounts, which access e-mail from an
Internet server.
Cloudmark message boards show that some users are experiencing glitchy
installations. With the program still in beta testing, that's to be
expected, its developers say. Even so, the number of SpamNet users has
topped 40,000 since its release June 19.
With 5 million e-mails being scanned every day with this limited beta
program, Mr. Jacob says he's ecstatic about the initial reception.
Perhaps, he says, the response should have been anticipated. Much of the
activity on the Web has ignored its ability to help users collaborate in
real time, he says.
"We're bringing that back by binding people together against a
collective annoyance," he says.
OTHER SPAM-FILTERING SOFTWARE
Cost: Freeware
Specs: Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP
Pros: Simple to use; works with multiple POP3 accounts. Filters
spam with reliable Internet blacklist.
Cons: Doesn't work with America Online, Hotmail or other
Web-based mail.
Cost: $39.95
Specs: Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP
Pros: Excellent for those new to filtering; thousands of prebuilt
e-mail filters; automatically sends complaints to spammers' Internet
service providers.
Cons: Doesn't work with Web-based mail; can't detect HTML-based
spam containing graphics, audio or video files.
Cost: $30-a-year subscription
Specs: Web-based filtering; all operating systems
Pros: Shields your real e-mail address by filtering all mail
through a new e-mail address, sifting spam, then forwarding cleansed
mail.
Cons: Like the other solutions, it can erroneously record some
e-mail as spam; must be checked for errors.
Cost: $29.95; free trial available
Specs: Windows NT/2000/XP/98/ME
Pros: Supports standard e-mail such as Outlook Express, Eudora
and Netscape mail, but not AOL. Users set up a list of addresses that
are given permission to send mail to their in-boxes. Others are stopped
by a registration process.
Cons: If someone tries to contact you and they're not on your
list, they're treated just like a spammer and forced to fill out a
registration form.
E-mail dbedell@dallasnews.com
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